Little Green Monster
by nherbie
Summary: Kensi overreacts when she sees Deeks with another woman.
1. Chapter 1

I have no idea where this came from but I've always thought Kensi overreacted whenever there was someone of the female persuasion around Deeks. The hamster is tired and got off the wheel by himself this time.

Still don't own NCIS:LA, NCIS, NCIS:NOLA...so sad...

A/N - a lot of the feedback I got was that Deeks forgave Kensi too easily. I started to revise the story when I realized I agreed. When I got done, I figured it was somewhat darker than this one so I am going to post it as a revised story. Also, I appear to have left too many people hanging on too many things so I also added an epilogue to this version, it is similar to the one in the new story. SORRY!

Thanks to everyone for the reviews!

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Chapter 1

Deeks opened his eyes at the sound of knocking. He rolled over to look at the clock and groaned. It was just after 7:30 and he didn't need to be to work until 9:30. Then a smile crossed his face. It was probably Kensi. Last night had been one of the "off" nights from their relationship. Sometimes she would show up the next morning to car pool into work, and, if early enough, join him in bed for a while. He hoped she had brought coffee.

The knock came again and he got out of bed, threw on some board shorts and padded to the front door. Convinced that it was her, he didn't bother to look through the peep hole, just flung the door open saying "Good morning, sugar…" and stopped. The woman in front of him wasn't Kensi. "Caroline? What are you doing here? " he looked beyond her. "Where's David?" He looked carefully at her and saw she was near tears. "Are you ok? Did something happen to David?"

Her chin quivered but she quickly replied "No, no. We're both fine. David's in London on business. Can I talk to you Marty? I have a problem and I need help! I'm sorry to be here so early but I was hoping to catch you before you went into work."

He stepped back from the door and waved her in. He had met Caroline and David McRae on an LAPD op several years ago. They had just clicked and remained friends ever since. Caroline was a sweet woman but very passive. David made all the decisions in their lives, something she was more than happy for him to do. He'd seen firsthand, the tailspin she went into just trying to just decide where to go for dinner. He shut the door behind her. "What's the matter sweetie?" he asked.

She turned to look at him. "You know David got that big promotion six months ago?" He nodded, remembering that the three of them had gone out to celebrate. The promotion meant more money and they had been excitedly talking about finally being able to start a family. "Is something wrong at the new job?" She shook her head no.

"We moved shortly after the promotion. We make enough money now to afford a bigger place where having a baby would be easier. David researched the areas around L.A. and found out which had the best schools. We found a great two bedroom in our price range. We were careful to make sure it was okay to have kids in the apartment. There was nothing in the lease to indicate otherwise and we never thought to ask directly."

He looked at her and asked "Does that mean...?"

The worry left her eyes for a minute and she positively glowed. She smoothed her hands down over her slightly rounded belly and said "Yup! I'm three months pregnant. David and I are finally going to be parents!"

"Congratulations! That's fantastic news! What's the problem though?" he responded.

The smile left her face and the worry returned. "David ran into the landlord the day he was leaving and told him our good news. He thought everything was fine. A week later the landlord told me we had to move out! That he doesn't want kids in the apartment. Marty, he wants us out by the end of the month! That's only three weeks and David isn't due back for another month or more. He can't leave London, it could get him fired. I didn't know where to turn so David suggested I talk to you. He remembered you were a lawyer before you became a cop. He thought maybe you could give us some advice, somewhere to turn. I can't do this by myself!" she started crying.

"Sweetie, I'll do anything I can. Did you bring a copy of the lease with you?" he asked. He hated seeing her so upset.

She dug into her bag and handed him the lease agreement. "Yes, I made a copy for you. Thanks so much Marty. I have been so stressed out and it's not good for the baby. If we need to move in three weeks, I have so much to do, I can't even think straight." He put his arm around her and assured he would do everything he could to make sure they didn't need to move, at least not until after David was back.

He looked at his watch and figured Eric would probably be in Ops by now. He picked up his cell phone and called him.

The technical analyst answered on the first ring "Yo, Deeks. What's up dude?"

Deeks smiled at the sound of his friend's voice and asked him "Can you look up a Carl Stanton for me? I want to know if there are any complaints/lawsuits against him. He's the landlord for this address." He read the address off the lease agreement.

"Sure, give me a minute." Eric said. While he was waiting, Deeks scrounged around and found a pad of paper and pen while listening to the techie typing away. He was ready when Eric came back and said "I think I got what you need, man. This guy has some serious people skill issues. I've got multiple complaints filed at LAPD from former tenants as well as lawsuits filed against him for unfair practices."

"Give me the details on a couple of them, please." Deeks asked. He scribbled away and then said "I think that's enough for me to work with Eric, thanks!" Eric, ever curious, asked "What's this all about?" Deeks filled him in on Caroline's predicament and Eric told him to wish her good luck. Hanging up he said to her "I have a feeling you won't be moving any time soon. Oh, and my buddy at work says good luck." She smiled back at him, feeling more hopeful now that Marty was taking care of things. Next he called the number on the lease. Caroline listened to his side of the conversation and was amazed to hear him easily switch from being a cold and precise lawyer, to a somewhat more heated LAPD cop, then becoming even more heated when he started making allusions to the fact that he worked closely with a Federal Law Enforcement agency.

When he finally hung up, she asked "What did he say?" He smiled at her and said "You and David are fine to stay right where you are for as long as you want."

"Oh God, thank you so much! You have no idea how relieved this makes me. I'll let David know right away. We'll take you out to dinner as a thank you when he gets back to L.A., plus, we haven't gotten together in far too long as it is."

He laughed and said, "No need to take me out but I'd love to get together as I'd like to introduce you to someone."

She tilted her head at him and replied "Don't tell me you've finally found someone?"

He nodded and she clapped her hands. "Tell me all about her!" After doing some catching up, he looked down at his watch and realized he now had to get a move on if he wanted to get to work on time. He walked Caroline to her car, where she put her arms around him and gave him a big hug. She whispered thank you again into his chest. Returning her hug, he dropped a kiss onto the top of her head and told her that he had been happy he was able to help and hoped both she and David knew he would always do whatever he could for them. She squeezed him again and let go. They agreed to email to set up a time for dinner. She told him she was dying to meet the woman he was so obviously head over heels in love with. Watching her pull away, he didn't notice the silver SRX parked just up the street. He went back upstairs to get ready for his day, happy he had been able to help out a friend and eager to see his Kensi.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - I love reviews, positive and negative (as long as they are constructive and not nasty) and try to address concerns by updating my story if I agree with the reviewer. I've updated this to address Deeks's relationship with Nicole Martindale (just so happened I had just finished rewatching Plan B when the review was posted). Please remember that I am EXTREMELY new to fan fiction and have never written anything prior to these stories. I am hoping to learn as I go...

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Chapter 2

He had lied to her and cheated on her! She had gotten up early and headed out to his place to surprise him. She had coffee and donuts sitting forgotten on the seat next to her as she watched the man she loved walk another woman out of his apartment and to her car, clad only in board shorts and no shoes. After witnessing their embrace and kiss, it was fairly obvious the woman had spent the night. She found herself remembering it had been him to suggest taking a night or two to themselves, conveniently forgetting that it was her actions that had led up to it. Now she wondered if this woman was the real reason. After he disappeared back into his apartment, Kensi restarted the car and drove blindly to the Mission.

Damn it, she had been so sure that they were finally in a good place in their relationship. Working through their first fight, realizing they need space at least a couple times during the week. Everyone knew they were together and, other than that one case where the partners had been switched up, things had been going back to normal. They were learning to keep their personal life out of the workplace. Now, this. Why did all her relationships fall apart? She was going to need to confront him about this, just, not at the moment. She could never continue in a relationship with someone who couldn't remain faithful to her.

She got to the Mission with no real memory of getting there. She wiped the tears off her face and, when she felt ready, got out of the car and headed in. She put her bag down and wished Sam and Callen a good morning. The first thing Sam teasingly asked was "Where's your not so better half, Kens?" looking past her.

"I'm not his keeper Sam. I'm sure he'll be in when he's good and ready." she replied waspishly. Sam and Callen looked at her in surprise then at each other. This wasn't good. Trouble between the partners would impact the whole team. This was the major concern they had had when they found out the two had moved past the friendship stage and into a full blown relationship.

She booted up her laptop and brought up some paperwork that needed to be completed. She pretended to be engrossed in her work, but didn't make any real progress. Deeks showed up a while later, apologizing for being late, saying that something had come up that he needed to take care of. She looked at him and snorted. Looking at her in confusion, he asked "Kensi, what's up? You okay princess?" She looked at him in astonishment, and then remembered that he didn't know she had seen the two of them together.

She glared at him and stood up from her desk. Looking him right in the eyes, she said "I can't believe you! After all the things you told me about your father cheating on your mother and how you would never do that, you do EXACTLY that! I guess it's in the genes. You're no better than your dad!" and stormed out of the bullpen. He stood there stunned and hurt. He had no idea what she was talking about. He'd never cheated on her, hell; he'd barely even dated anyone since he met her.

Callen advanced on him, asking "You cheated on her? After everything that's happened, I thought you were better than that!"

Taking in the stunned look on the younger man's face, Sam kept a calmer head and defended Deeks by saying "Let's wait to see what he has to say G, before trying and convicting him." Looking at Deeks, he continued "So, what happened this morning?"

Deeks shook his head as he was totally in the dark over what had just happened. "Nothing, I swear! This is the first time I've seen her since last night." He thought back through the hours since he had left the Mission between last night and now. Finally he could only come up with one thing that could have led to this outburst. "The only thing I can think of is that, early this morning, a friend of mine showed up on my doorstep. I met her and her husband several years ago, before I knew you guys. We've all been friends for a while. David is out of the country right now and Caroline is a little over three months pregnant. Their landlord started giving her a hard time, trying to evict her due to her pregnancy and she panicked. She came to me for help. I called the guy up and gave him an earful until he agreed to let them stay. That's it, I swear! I don't even know how Kensi could have found out about her visit." He thought back and grimaced. "I did walk her out to her car when she left. I only had on shorts and I gave her a hug and a quick kiss before she left. I suppose that could be misinterpreted, lead Kensi to think I had an overnight guest."

Sam just quirked an eyebrow at him, pretty sure that Kensi had seen the two of them together that morning. Deeks thought about it and, when he realized that was exactly what she thought, he found himself getting angry. "How could she think that about me? I told her about my dad cheating on my mom and how it upset her. Even though he beat the crap out of both of us, she could never understand why the two of us weren't good enough for him. She would ask him about the other woman every time and it would only lead to both of us ending up bloody and bruised. I've always associated cheating with pain. I have NEVER cheated on anyone I was involved in and NEVER would." His anger burned out quickly and turned to sadness. He said softly, "I really thought, hoped, that she knew me better than that."

Callen asked "What about Nicole Martindale? You don't call that cheating?"

Deeks sighed. He held up one finger "One, that was an undercover assignment. We've all done things undercover that we would never do in our personal lives. I've done things as Max that make me want to vomit. There are people out there who are terrified of him. How many people do you think are terrified of Marty Deeks?" Sam opened his mouth only to close it when Deeks said "Please, Sam, please don't make a joke out of that." Sam realized that their normally jovial detective was deadly serious about this. Deeks held up a second finger "Second, Nicole and Ray were never in love. They went on a three day bender and woke up in Vegas married. Neither one of them even knew whose idea it was. The first thing Ray said to me after telling me they had gotten married, was to beg me to find a way to get him out of it. Ray was...lazy at times...he never followed through on terminating the marriage. Why do you think he didn't want to take Nicole with him when he relocated? It was his out. Plus, he had met Jenna and fallen for real." He held up a third finger "Third, _I_ was not involved with anyone else at the time. Although, Callen, I admit now what you wanted me to then. My feelings for her were all mixed up. The lines blurred between make believe and reality." He held up a fourth finger. "Last, I never slept with her. I used our mutual relationships to Ray to hold her at arms length. There was a physical relationship, but it never went that far."

"Call Kensi on it, Deeks. Let her know how wrong she was and tell her what was really going on. Don't let her get away with this. You let her get away with too much as it is." said Sam. Surprised at Sam's defense of him, he glanced at Callen, who nodded his agreement.

He took a few steps away from his desk when his phone rang. He recognized the tone as that of a burner phone he was using for an undercover op with LAPD. It was one he had thought had died a natural death as the phone hadn't rung in a couple of weeks. Digging into his bag, he pulled it out and answered "Yeah." Sam and Callen recognized that tone of voice, whoever was on the other end thought they were talking to Max Gentry. "Today?! Yeah, yeah, I can make it. Where?" he noted down the address. When he hung up, he pulled out his personal phone and texted it to Lt. Bates. Once sent, he called the man to follow up. "Lt. I just heard from him. It's going down today at 1:00, I texted the address to you just now. No, he was adamant that it be today. Yeah, if I leave now, I should be able to make it there by then." Hanging up, he looked at Sam and then out towards the hallway Kensi had disappeared down. He then looked over to Hetty's office but it was empty. They had yet to see her this morning; luckily for them she had missed the blowup between him and Kensi. Although he was sure by the end of the day that she would work her ninja skills and know all about it.

"Sam, I just don't have time for that conversation right now. I got to go if I'm going to make it to my meeting with Bates. I'll talk to her tonight. Can you tell Hetty and…and everyone else where I went?" he said as he started to head out of the Mission.

"Hey, what's the op Deeks?" asked Callen.

"Drug deal, trying to take out the buyers and the supplier at the same time. Max is one of the go-betweens. Supplier wants all players there so I need to meet up with LAPD to prep. It should be over quickly, I might even make it back here before quitting time. I'll call one of you with an update when it's done. I'll probably spend more time on paperwork than anything else." he answered before heading out the door, hearing his teammate's wishes of good luck and stay safe as he did so. Everyone but the one he wanted to hear it from the most.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kensi put another magazine in her Sig and aimed at the target. This was her third clip and she was still waiting for him to follow her, to try to apologize, to tell her what was going on, anything. When she finished with this one, she finally figured out he wasn't coming. She rested her head against the protective glass, thinking that he must have decided that he had no excuse to offer her. As mad as she was at him, however, she blanched as she remembered likening him to his dad. She knew he wasn't at all like the man he had dropped hints about over the years. She decided it was time to head back to the bullpen and a very uncomfortable conversation with Deeks. She stowed her gun in her waistband. She pulled the target back and was pleased at the nice center mass cluster on this last round. She put the protective gear away where it belonged and headed back to their desks, determined to have it out with him.

Walking back into the bullpen, she was surprised to find his desk empty. She turned to look at Sam to ask where he was but was stopped by the look on his face. He looked angry with her. Her stomach dropped as she wondered what Deeks had told him to make him look at her like that. She knew the two of them had gotten closer since they were both abducted and tortured by Sidorov. Sam had become protective of the younger man. "Where's Deeks?" she asked the room in general.

It was Callen who answered "Called in for an LAPD op that's going down at 1:00 this afternoon. He said he'd talk to us all later."

Sam looked at her and said "Would you care to explain that little episode from earlier?"

She didn't know how to start so just said the first thing that came into her mind "He's cheating on me, I know it." Not that that was really much of an explanation.

Sam just shook his head, he knew Kensi was insanely jealous of Deeks but this, this was too much. He thought back to her reactions to Nicole, Monica, and even Eva and Talia. He could kind of understand Nicole and Monica as Deeks had had quasi romantic relationships with them, even if it was only due to an undercover op, but he had only worked with the other two professionally. Callen had told him of her reaction to Sapphire on one of the first cases they had gone undercover with him on. How she just couldn't let it go, kept making snarky remarks putting the woman down, questioning his relationship with her. She had turned out to be a crook, but that wasn't what prompted Kensi's reaction to her. Deeks had even told him a story about her snatching his business card away from some little waitress they had been interviewing about a murder. Some kind of funky name….something like Star. Kensi had taken the card from her and ripped it up under the pretense that she was _protecting_ the waitress from him. Deeks had admitted he had flirted a little with the girl and had thought Kensi's response was cute. If today's jealous reaction was any indication, Kensi needed to do some serious work on her relationship skills.

"And how do you know this?" asked Sam.

"I saw Deeks escorting a woman from his place this morning, he was practically making out with her on the street!" she replied.

"Let me guess. You didn't confront them, didn't give him a chance to explain, you just ran. Kensi, this time you really blew it. Caroline and her husband are friends of Deeks. She was just looking for help on a personal issue as her husband is out of the country at the moment."

She looked skeptical and replied "You know how good he is at thinking on his feet. How do you know he didn't just make that up on the spur of the moment? Or had an excuse ready to go if he got caught?" She wasn't ready to believe she had made such a horrible mistake and said things that were guaranteed to hurt him.

Sam was about to reply when Eric came bounding down the stairs from Ops. "Where's Deeks?" he asked, "I wanted to find out how things went with his friend's landlord."

Kensi looked at him in dismay, Eric's words confirming the story Deeks had told Sam. She sat down hard, hearing her own voice in her head, accusing Deeks of cheating on her, telling him he was like his father. "Oh God, what have I done? Why do I always do this, assume the worst without knowing all the facts?" she asked.

"I don't have the answer to that, but you really hurt him this time. You know he hates thinking he could be like his father!" Sam snapped at her.

Callen piped in "This op came up quick and he didn't seem too pleased about it. He's going in as Max Gentry and you know how he feels about that alias. He's probably going to be upset about a lot of things when he gets home." She nodded, thinking she could pick up something from Yummy Yummy Heart Attack, some beer and ice cream for dessert as a peace offering. He had to forgive her, he always did. That thought gave her pause. What if he didn't, or couldn't this time?

They all turned back to work and the day dragged on slowly. Callen had updated Hetty about Deeks's whereabouts when she had returned to her office later in the morning. She had simply nodded and thanked him for the information. All of them were covertly watching the clock as 1:00 came and went. When it was close to 4:00, Sam became worried and said to Callen. "G, I thought this op was supposed to be quick and he was going to call us when it was done? We should have heard from him by now."

Callen just shook his head, "You know how these things go Sam. There's no time table. They're probably still processing everyone."

Sam nodded and went back to work, but didn't stop watching the clock. Kensi had given up even trying to pretend to work. She was worried about his safety with her not there to watch his back. She worried that she had ruined things between them, that he wouldn't be able to forgive her for this. She wanted desperately to call or text him but she didn't know what was happening and doing so could put him in danger. The team was not working on any active cases at the moment but still, no one left the Mission when quitting time came and there was still no word. Even Nell and Eric were hiding upstairs in Ops, waiting to hear something about Deeks. Hetty remained in her office, sipping tea and appearing calm, but they all noticed she was not working on anything either, just waiting like the rest of them.

Eventually the three agents couldn't stand sitting and worrying so went into the gym to work off some steam. Callen and Kensi worked on their knife fighting skills and Sam worked out on the punching bag. About an hour had passed when Hetty appeared in the doorway. She announced "I've just heard from Lt. Bates. The op is over but Mr. Deeks has gone missing."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

" _The op is over but Mr. Deeks has gone missing."_

Kensi felt sick. What if the last thing she ever got to say to him was that he was just like his father? Accused him of cheating? Never got to apologize? She wasn't sure how she would live with that. Sam came up behind her and put his arms around her. She leaned back for a moment, accepting the silent support he offered but then pulled away from him; ready do whatever needed to be done to find Deeks.

Callen asked "What do we know Hetty?"

Hetty sighed and told them "Lt. Bates said the raid went as expected, until it didn't. There were more people at the warehouse than expected and they were more heavily armed than the intel suggested they would be. There was a gun fight that, eventually, ended with LAPD coming out on top. Max Gentry was supposed to be arrested with the rest in order to keep his cover intact. It wasn't until the dust settled and everyone was processed, that they realized that Gentry had not been booked. He was not amongst the dead who were sent to the morgue. Nor was he on the list of wounded sent to Pacific Beach Medical. At this point, his whereabouts are completely unknown. I have informed Ms. Jones and Mr. Beale and they are combing through whatever video footage they can find from cameras inside and around the warehouse, hoping to locate our Mr. Deeks. LAPD is currently searching the warehouse physically from top to bottom, but it's a large space and that is going to take some time."

The three agents and their Operations Manager headed upstairs. They entered Ops expecting to find Nell and Eric, but were surprised to find Granger there as well. Granger turned as everyone entered the situation room and looked at Kensi. "We will do everything in our power to find Detective Deeks, Agent Blye. We won't let him get away that easily." He turned back to watch Nell and Eric, leaving three very surprised agents behind him. They weren't sure if it was for Deeks or for Kensi that Granger was doing this, but it didn't matter, they basically had carte blanche to do whatever it took to find their missing man. They had all noticed a change in the man's attitude towards Deeks since Afghanistan. Granger had seen what the detective was capable of and, after a long talk with Sgt. Makar about what transpired once they had left the two of them behind at the cleric's house, he had revised his opinion of the goofy detective. Unbeknownst to anyone in the room, other than Hetty, he had begun his own campaign to get the detective to sign the paperwork that would make him an official NCIS agent.

Eric and Nell began searching video feed from in and around the warehouse where the raid had gone down, starting at just before 1:00. From a traffic cam on the corner where the warehouse was located, they watched two groups of men going in, finding Deeks among the first one. Shortly after, the footage showed LAPD arrive, move into position and begin the raid. They could find nothing to show him leaving that warehouse, before, during or after LAPD's incursion. They couldn't find where he might have gone within the warehouse from the cameras they were able to access inside it. There was also nothing on surveillance or traffic cameras from the surrounding areas. Deeks seemed to have just vanished. "Is there any chance he's still in there, Eric?" asked Callen.

Eric pulled up the plans for the building and put it up on the main screen. "He could be. As you can see, it's a huge place and there are lots of areas the cameras can't see into."

After searching for almost two hours, Hetty's phone rang. Looking at the caller id she told her team "It's Lt. Bates." and turned away to speak with him. They all listened to her side of the conversation. She didn't put him on speaker as she wanted to be able to tell the team in her own way if the information on Deeks was not good.

"Yes Lieutenant, have you found him?"

"Excellent."

"Oh dear, I see. Where was he taken?"

"I'll let his team know. "

"Really? Yes, that doesn't seem at all like him."

"I don't know the answer to that, but I will be sure to ask. Thank you for the update."

She hung up. Turning to the expectant group behind her she said "Mr. Deeks has been located and brought to Pacific Beach Medical where he has been seen by a doctor." Kensi was already heading out the door, only too familiar with the hospital in question. Sam and Callen waited to hear the rest of what Hetty had learned from Bates. "Mr. Deeks was found in one of the offices on an upper floor, pretty badly beaten. He was initially unconscious when found but awoke before the ambulance arrived. The doctor who saw him found bruises and several lacerations that required stitches, a possible concussion and several bruised ribs, but no internal injuries. It looks like he will be fine but is being kept for observation overnight."

Both agents heaved a sigh of relief and started for the door to Ops to follow Kensi to the hospital. They stopped when Hetty asked "Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna, a moment of your time, please?" They turned back and waited to hear what Hetty needed from them. "Lt. Bates asked me a question at the end of our call. One that was very reminiscent of something he asked during the Clarence Fisk operation. Apparently our Mr. Deeks made no objection to being held overnight and never once asked if he could be released. Lt. Bates said he didn't seem to care one way or the other. He asked me what we've done to his detective. Do you have any ideas?"

Everyone in the room knew that Deeks hated hospitals and would beg to be sent home, no matter how injured he was. His not requesting to be sent home, for something he would consider relatively minor, was disconcerting, to say the least. Sam and Callen exchanged a glance, not sure how much they should tell Hetty. That one glance was enough to put Hetty on the scent that the two men in front of her knew something related to the situation. "Mr. Callen? Mr. Hanna? It's obvious you know something and I want to hear it now!"

There was silence for a moment and it was Callen who responded. "He and Kensi had an argument this morning over something she saw and misunderstood. She, um, might have accused of being just like his father."

Hetty sucked in a breath. More than anyone at NCIS, she knew how much an accusation like that would hurt the detective. "I'm afraid Ms. Blye will have a tough time getting him to forgive her for that. It's probably the one thing in this world she could say that would hurt him to the point of being unable to do so. That might explain his lack of interest in going home. For him to agree to stay in the hospital speaks volumes. Well, that is between the two of them. I am interested to find out who put him in the hospital to start with." She turned to Nell and Eric to say "If you'd like to go to the hospital as well, please feel free. Then come back and work with LAPD on who did this to him. I will be joining you shortly."

Granger added "As will I."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N - added an epilogue to tie up loose ends that the kitties were playing with.

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Chapter 5

Kensi made it to the hospital in record time, breaking several traffic laws and leaving behind more than one shaken driver. She had to flash her badge at reception in order to get his room number as she was technically not family. She raced up the stairs to the third floor, not wanting to take the time to wait for the elevator. She found his room and paused outside the door, taking a moment to prepare herself for what she might find behind it. A nurse approached her. "Are you here to see Marty, um, Detective Deeks?" she asked

. Kensi turned to look at her, a familiar feeling rising in her chest, one that she fought down. That feeling was exactly what had started this whole mess. The nurse was a pretty red head who was looking at her questioningly. "Yes, I'm here for him." The words had several levels of meaning for her at this moment.

The nurse smiled and said "He might not be awake. The doctor gave him some pain medication and he was asleep the last time I checked in on him. I'm glad someone is here for him, he's such a sweetie." She blushed and walked away. Kensi had to smile; her Deeks had a way with the nurses.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door quietly and stood in the doorway looking at him. Her heart tightened in her chest. He looked to be one large bruise, and his chest was bare, covered only by bandages wrapped tightly around his ribs. She took in the stitches on his forehead and chin. Someone had worked him over pretty good, but he was alive and she would fix this. He looked like he was asleep so she walked softly over to the chair by his bed and sat down. She reached out and pushed a lock of his hair off his forehead, careful not to touch the stitched up wound. He instantly woke up and looked at her. He smiled and his eyes lit up. She knew when the memory of their last conversation returned as the light left them, the smile gone. "What are you doing here?" he asked groggily. Her stomach cramped, it sounded like he didn't want her here or couldn't understand why she would want to be at his side.

"I'll always be here for you Deeks. I am _so_ sorry about..." he interrupted her.

"Why, Kensi? Why would you say those things to me? You know how I feel about cheaters, how I feel about my dad. I've told you enough times. Why couldn't you have had more faith in me? Given me a chance to explain? You just saw what you wanted to see and did what you always do. You assumed the worst of me and didn't allow me my say."

She reached out to take his hand in hers, devastated when it remained limp in hers. He didn't grab her fingers like he usually did when they held hands. "You don't understand." she started.

"Then help me understand! Tell me! Let me know why you reacted like you did. Give me a reason to forgive you, because right now, I'm not sure that I have it in me." he said.

She gathered her thoughts and started. "You know how my mom told me that she left my dad because she fell in love with another man. I didn't know it was a lie until I reestablished contact several years ago, after finding my dad's killer. All I knew was that she had cheated on the man who was the most important person in my world and I saw how it hurt him." She paused and took a deep breath. "You know about Jack's PTSD but what I never told you, never told anyone, is that he cheated on me. Constantly. When he came back from Afghanistan, he was a changed man. He said coming home to me was like hitting the ground after flying. He excused his cheating by saying he was just trying to find someone who would help him fly again, but that he still loved me. That hurt on so many levels but I forgave him every time. Then, after all I put up with, all the work I did trying to help him, he just up and left without a word. I vowed I would never again stay with a man who was unfaithful. I think I started expecting it, looking for proof in any little thing that the guy I was with was cheating on me."

She paused and looked at him. He tightened his hand on hers, giving her hope that he was starting to understand. That he would find a way to forgive her. "Then Jason Wyler walked into my life" she continued, causing a small smile to play across his face. "Even before we were together-together, I had feelings for you and every woman that came near you was suspect. You have such an easy way with people. I've seen the connections you make with them, something I envy. In my eyes, why wouldn't every woman want you? I know in my head that all the flirting was harmless, but my heart was another matter. It was just waiting to get broken again. I would get jealous of every one of those women. I know it's something that I need to work on and, if you give me another chance, if you can forgive me, I promise I will. I promise that I will always talk to you before making assumptions, if you promise to always be truthful." she looked at him hopefully. He appeared to be lost in thought.

"Ok, maybe I can understand why seeing me in a compromising situation with another woman could make you react the way you did. But Kensi, telling me I was just like my dad? That is probably the most hurtful thing anyone has ever said to me."

She looked at him and replied fiercely "You are NOTHING like your father Marty Deeks! What I said was out of anger and jealousy, I was looking to hurt you the way I thought you had hurt me. You are one of the best men I've ever known and I'm sorry that I ever let you think otherwise." She drew in a breath and told him something that that had been on her mind for a while, something that she had been afraid to tell him. "I love you."

That wonderful, heart stopping, crooked smile broke out on his face and he tightened his grip on her fingers even more. "I love you too Fern." and she knew she was forgiven. They would have to work out any residual issues, but they would make it.

They talked for a while longer and then the rest of the team arrived, followed shortly by Hetty and Granger. The small room became crowded as each person crammed in; trying to reassure themselves that he was okay. Nell had even gone so far as to kiss him and say "You had us worried Shaggy!"

His response of "Sorry Velma, you know I would never make my pixie worry if I could avoid it." made the others chuckle. A nurse came by and tried to tell them he was only allowed two visitors at a time but ran out of the room when seven federal badges were whipped out and shoved in her face. Deeks started to laugh but then let out a groan as his ribs told him that was not such a good idea.

Hetty said "We'll shortly leave you alone to rest Mr. Deeks but, right now, could you tell us what happened?"

"Well, you know the raid went down as planned. One of the gang bangers made a break for it and I chased after him. Stupid guy went up instead of out. When he heard me behind him, he thought I was a cop and grabbed the first weapon at hand, which happened to be a lead pipe." he grimaced and ran a hand over the bandages around his ribs, the others wincing in sympathy as most of them had been where he was now. "When he realized it was Max Gentry following him, he apologized profusely and I realized my cover was still intact. Staying in character I threatened him the way Max would have. Unfortunately for me, Max's reputation is bad enough that he decided he'd have to kill me in order to avoid looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. So, he basically beat me senseless. At first, I tried to fight back but he'd already done significant damage to my ribs so I wasn't at my best. I have no idea why he didn't finish the job. I'm guessing that he heard other cops coming too close and headed for the hills. I'll have to check with Bates to see if LAPD managed to grab him up."

Seeing that he was starting to tire and that the pain medication was wearing off, his teammates started to leave. Each one wishing him a good night, each saying, in their own way, how relieved they were that he was okay. As Granger was heading out the door, he turned back and said "Sign the damn paperwork Deeks!" leaving behind a very surprised detective and his girlfriend.

Epilogue:

Deeks had been back to work for several weeks and Kensi was on her best behavior. Sam and Callen had been nervous about the new dynamics between the partners, but had eventually come to the conclusion that this was better all around.

He had signed the paperwork to become an agent, resigning from LAPD, much to the chagrin of Lt. Bates. The whole team had gone out to celebrate, including Granger, who had bought several rounds and had gotten a little sloppy drunk, much to the delight of the newly minted Special Agent Deeks. He still had to go through FLETC training but he was actually looking forward to it. Go figure.

They had caught the guy who had beaten him at the warehouse. He was so stupid he had climbed out an upper story window and jumped, landing right in the middle of a SWAT team. Charges for the beating wouldn't be filed against him, they had more than enough to put him away for a good long while and that would leave Max Gentry as a viable alias for Deeks in the future, should NCIS want to use him. Deeks was quietly hoping Max Gentry had seen daylight for the last time.

When David had finally come home from London, Caroline had kept her promise and set up a dinner date with the four of them. The two women had taken to each other immediately, which surprised the hell out of Deeks. He couldn't imagine two people more dissimilar. His Kensi was strong and decisive, Caroline soft and timid, yet somehow it worked. He and David had laughed at the two women as they animatedly exchanged their life stories, totally ignoring their men.

It was a start and there were no guarantees, but they were doing everything in their power to make it work. Only time would tell.


End file.
